Supreme Court Retardation Ruling Could Save Missouri Death Row Inmate

A prisoner sentenced to die for throwing two girls off a bridge into the Mississippi River is the most obvious possible Missouri beneficiary of a United States Supreme Court ruling this week. A federal appeals court stayed Antonio Richardson’s execution a few hours before it was to happen in March, a year ago. The court said it delayed the execution until the United States Suprene Court could rule on cases questioning whether mentally-retarded people should get the death sentence. Now the High Court has ruled mentally-retarded people should not be sentenced to death. Attorney General spokesman Scott Holste says Richardson’s case is the only one in Missouri that raises the issue. Richardson reportedly has an IQ of 73, considered borderline retarded. The family of the two women who were raped and robbed by Richardson andthree others before they were thrown into the river is divided on Richardson’s fate. The women’s mother asked Governor Holden a year ago to commute Richardson’s sentence to life because of his retardation. Other members of the family have said they want Richardson executed.